Braxton Hicks Contrax. Question

[BMG580]

I am 34 weeks today and we went out and about shopping. I have been having pretty consistent and slightly painful BH contrax for the last few hours. We got home and I put my feet up and have been drinking lots of water and they are still coming pretty often and pretty intensely.

I know my midwife said to expect more this time around since it is my second pregnancy but I'm wondering how many are considered OK?

[smokeylo]

I think that the guideline is something like 5 or more per hour warrants a call to your care provider. However, I know some women here who are multiparas and are experiencing really frequent BH (flapjack??).

I would step it up before freaking out. Drink a glass of wine and take a hot shower. Good luck sweetie.

[BMG580]

Thanks- I just had a bit of wine and I am going to relax in the tub.

I know this sounds incredibly strange because I've already had one baby, a 34 hour labor at that. But I think these may be "real" contractions and not BH contrax after all. With my DD I had back labor from the first pang so I don't really know what a typical contraction feels like. While I wouldn't say that these hurt they are certainly more intense than menstrual cramps, they last 45-1:30 in duration and they are coming about every 5 or so minutes. I feel like my whole belly gets really tight and it seeps down into my thighs and around to my back.

Any thoughts?

[Dea]

I think there is no harm in calling your care provider.... Just to be sure, especially since you've done so much to relax, so it's not like you're being a nervous nelly!

[sarahn4639]

Call!! Those do sound more like labor than BH. It certainly wouldn't hurt to check in with your mw. If they are real it is much easier to stop them early on rather than later. I hope they are just BH! I had some the other day that were enough to worry me, but they stopped. I hope your wine and bath did the trick! Let us know.

[Writerbird]

Pinging for updates. I know the odds are against us, but I'd love us to be a DDC that gets every single member to 36 weeks

[BMG580]

Thanks for asking for an update!

The wine and bath seemed to have done the trick. I am still having the random contrax here and there but they have slowed way down. I think I must have just overdone it the last couple days so I will relax a little more tomorrow. If things get going again I will call my midwife in the a.m.

Thanks for the advice!

[sarahn4639]

Oh good! Just the update I was checking in for!

[nascarbebe]

I think I had them too on Friday and a little bit on Saturday. We went shopping on Wed but I don't think I've really been overdoing it. I never had BH with DS but I think that's what this was. Since then I've been spending much more time on the couch. No sense of putting myself in danger. I talked to my doula about it and she told me to keep a really close eye on things and to relax, not vacuum, etc. I'm also 34 weeks and want to make it to at least 36.

[flapjack]

For some reason, 5 minutes apart lasting one minute seems to be the magic number for false labour for me, and I've heard a few other people say that as well. Freaky, isn't it? Drink, rest, preferably in one of those "optimal fetal positioning" positions, and see what happens.
FWIW, I'm really not in false labour hell atm, and it's wonderful! I was convinced I was going to have 2 whole months of false labour, and try as I might, I'm not going to be able to fit more than 7 weeks in without going wildly postdates I'm having some whopping great bic contractions, but no niggling. I can sympathise though, my pregnancies with Skye and Alex were both miserable with regular BH.

[Teenytoona]

You know what, JEB20005 and nascarbebe, you both mentioned shopping in your posts and BH's... I'm very seriously convinced that has something to do with it.

Here's my reasoning, it may sound a little nuts, but I think it's worth considering. TMI begins: Both DP and I get the severe urge to poop when out somewhere shopping that has alot of plastic (blockbuster, for example tends to set either of us off, even sans pregnancy). I've noticed the past two weeks that I can't be in any store (grocery, target, blockbuster) for a few minutes without that plastic hitting me, I think I'm more sensitive. (Maybe most pregnant women are?) Then I'm overwhelmed by an intense urge to go and BH's for as long as I'm in that store (and I haven't really had any BH's to speak of besides this). My theory is that the plastic fumes work like castor oil, or any other agent that gets those lower gut/pelvic floor muscles a-squeezing. I wouldn't be surprised if your being out and shopping had some effect on your contractions as well. I have no idea if there have been any studies on this, but considering my own non-pregnant and Mr Toona's reactions to plastics, I wouldn't call it too far fetched to extrapolate extra ctx's from it.

In fact I told Mr Toona yesterday after shopping, that if for some reason my labor stalls, we'll just go to Target and walk around a while, that should kick it back into gear. Forget Castor Oil, and forget Pitocin, that stuff seems to do the trick!

Not sure about the labor-like contractions, but if you're concerned about pre-term labor, maybe steer clear of plastics for awhile? I was considering limited shopping myself... Not that I'm worried about pre-term, but I"d hate to jar anything, KWIM?

[GreenRose]

Originally Posted by Teenytoona

TMI begins: Both DP and I get the severe urge to poop when out somewhere shopping that has alot of plastic (blockbuster, for example tends to set either of us off, even sans pregnancy).

that's amazing, and fascinating!

[flapjack]

: AND TMI....

[Teenytoona]

oh yes, TMI, to be sure, but I wasn't sure of any other gentle way to say it! But I can't help thinking about why people use Castor Oil to induce labor, and my experiences at the store. ...

Sorry for taking over your thread, OP!

[smokeylo]

I'm glad things slowed down for you! Phew!